Snow Japan - Features : How was it for you, Yuzawa? 2002/3 Season

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How Was It For You Yuzawa
2001/2002 Season - Part 4

Ever wondered just how many people hit the slopes in a season here in Japan?

So how did ten of the main resorts in one of the main snow regions of Japan fare during the 2003/4 season?

Well, unfortunately not as well as they might have hoped. Only two resorts - Kagura Mitsumata and GALA Yuzawa - saw an overall increase in the number of skiers and snowboarders visiting their slopes compared to the previous season. Both of those resorts are located higher up than the others in the town, and so they can benefit from any early and heavy snowfalls. This means that they are able to open early and stay open longer at the end of the season - which is exactly what happened last season due to the healthy early snowfalls. However, a closer inspection shows that even for those two resorts that had positive results for the season as a whole, the statistics for the peak months of January, February and March are all down on last season.

The biggest drop in numbers was at the once very popular and trendy Kandatsu Kogen, showing a decrease of over 13%. Rumors about the future of that resort and one or two others were circulating in late spring, but rumors is all they were - with all of the resorts seemingly busy preparing for the coming season....


NAEBA 2,260,300 -3.2%	KAGURA MITSUMATA 371,500 +10.2%	KAGURA TASHIRO 99,800 -9.1%	IWAPPARA 535,650 -7.1%
GALA YUZAWA 288,160 +1.7%	KANDATSU KOGEN 472,180 -13.5%	NASPA SKI GARDEN 115,860 -1.2%	YUZAWA KOGEN 97,230 -2.3%
	YUZAWA PARK 91,050 -10.3%	YUZAWA NAKAZATO 266,500 -10.4%
The main numbers above indicate the total number of guests at each resort during the season, while the percentages indicate the change compared to the previous season

NAEBA RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

NAEBA RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96		23,000	380,600	791,600	741,600	741,200	111,000	22,700
'96/'97	4,000	26,000	438,000	727,200	645,000	684,400	75,800	9,800
'97/'98	2,400	27,000	441,000	743,400	670,000	705,700	89,000	14,300
'98/'99	3,700	24,000	367,000	742,000	678,000	679,000	79,000	11,050
'99/'00		20,200	311,600	717,000	656,600	631,500	80,500	13180
'00/'01		21,500	311,600	609,500	603,800	606,400	62,000	7,900
'01/'02		7,200	339,500	641,200	621,100	660,100	55,800	10,800
'02/'03		8,500	377,900	653,200	568,800	594,100	49,000	8,800

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	2,811,700	November	111.3%	40.0%
'96/'97	2,610,200	December	101.9%	99.3%
'97/'98	2,692,800	January	91.6%	82.5%
'98/'99	2,583,750	February	90.0%	76.7%
'99/'00	2,430,580	March	87.8%	80.1%
'00/'01	2,222700	April	81.5%	44.1%
'01/'02	2,335,700	May	97.0%	38.8%
'02/'03	2,260,300	SEASON	96.8%	80.4%

KAGURA MITSUMATA RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

KAGURA MITSUMATA RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96		2,500	60,000	77,000	72,000	90,000	65,000	25,000
'96/'97		6,200	103,000	80,000	62,000	95,000	62,000	20,000
'97/'98		100	115,000	81,000	62,000	95,000	60,000	10,000
'98/'99		4,000	90,000	50,000	46,000	68,000	55,000	25,000
'99/'00		3,500	80,000	80,000	62,000	75,000	60,000	27,000
'00/'01		3,000	98,000	60,000	57,000	69,000	60,000	28,000
'01/'02		3,500	67,000	59,000	55,000	78,500	55,000	19,000
'02/'03		30,000	85,000	57,000	52,000	72,500	53,000	22,000

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	391,500	November	857.1%	1200%
'96/'97	428,200	December	126.9%	141.7%
'97/'98	423,100	January	96.6%	74.0%
'98/'99	338,000	February	94.5%	72.2%
'99/'00	387,500	March	92.4%	80.5%
'00/'01	375,000	April	96.4%	81.5%
'01/'02	337,000	May	115.8%	88.0%
'02/'03	371,500	SEASON	110.2%	94.9%

KAGURA TASHIRO RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

KAGURA TASHIRO RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96			14,000	24,000	21,000	23,000	20,000	8,100
'96/'97			32,000	25,000	20,000	30,000	21,000	8,600
'97/'98			32,000	26,500	20,000	30,000	24,000
'98/'99			22,000	17,000	16,000	24,000	21,000	9,000
'99/'00			20,000	25,000	20,000	21,000	17,000	10,500
'00/'01			25,000	18,000	18,300	21,300	19,600	10,500
'01/'02			18,000	19,000	19,500	28,100	17,200	8,000
'02/'03			23,000	17,000	18,000	18,500	15,500	7,800

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	110,100	November	---	---
'96/'97	136,600	December	127.8%	164.3%
'97/'98	132,500	January	89.5%	70.8%
'98/'99	109,000	February	92.3%	85.7%
'99/'00	113,500	March	65.8%	80.4%
'00/'01	112,700	April	90.1%	77.5%
'01/'02	109,800	May	97.5%	96.3%
'02/'03	99,800	SEASON	90.9%	90.1%

IWAPPARA RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

IWAPPARA RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96			110,100	326,300	331,500	288,500	35,600
'96/'97			50,800	236,300	333,700	266,900	9,600
'97/'98			6,000	188,200	338,300	238,500	4,500
'98/'99			10,000	287,800	298,800	193,700	10,200
'99/'00			61,400	237,700	269,000	174,500	13,700
'00/'01			50,200	214,200	224,500	141,000	8,630
'01/'02			58,070	197,500	203,800	115,630	1,650
'02/'03			47,350	184,800	180,600	120,600	2,300

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	1,092,000	November	---	---
'96/'97	897,300	December	81.5%	43.0%
'97/'98	775,500	January	93.6%	56.6%
'98/'99	800,500	February	88.6%	54.5%
'99/'00	756,300	March	104.3%	41.8%
'00/'01	638,530	April	139.4%	6.5%
'01/'02	576,650	May	--	--
'02/'03	535,650	SEASON	92.9%	49.1

GALA YUZAWA RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

GALA YUZAWA RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96			34,000	93,200	105,700	82,000	21,000	4,300
'96/'97			48,600	87,000	83,300	88,000	16,600	100
'97/'98			57,100	98,100	99,600	97,500	15,200
'98/'99			36,130	74,490	98,070	80,780	17,330	3160
'99/'00			32,500	95,970	98,970	76,400	24,570	5,190
'00/'01			36,080	70,870	92,610	78,190
'01/'02			30,300	73,110	86,170	75,760
'02/'03			46,700	62,460	76,160	70,490	28,280	4,070

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	340,200	November	---	---
'96/'97	323,600	December	154.1%	137.4%
'97/'98	367,500	January	85.4%	67.1%
'98/'99	309,960	February	88.4%	72.1%
'99/'00	333,600	March	93.0%	86.0%
'00/'01	319,900	April	156.5%	134.7%
'01/'02	283,410	May	--	94.7%
'02/'03	288,160	SEASON	101.7%	84.7%

KANDATSU KOGEN RESORT
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

KANDATSU KOGEN RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96		500	122,200	225,000	281,000	264,000	71,000	10,700
'96/'97			120,800	215,000	271,000	252,000	30,000
'97/'98			39,000	191,000	186,200	205,000	79,000
'98/'99			34,550	182,000	183,000	178,000	62,550
'99/'00			50,600	137,200	173,800	156,900	58,400
'00/'01			55,560	135,100	169,500	157,000	58,500
'01/'02			52,780	135,000	164,400	141,300	52,650
'02/'03			51,520	124,250	139,740	117,590	39,080

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	974,400	November
'96/'97	888,800	December	97.6%	42.2%
'97/'98	700,200	January	92.0%	55.2%
'98/'99	640,100	February	85.0%	49.7%
'99/'00	576,900	March	83.0%	44.5%
'00/'01	575,660	April	74.0%	55.0%
'01/'02	546,130	May	--	---
'02/'03	472,180	SEASON	86.5%	48.5%

NASPA SKI GARDEN
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

NASPA SKI GARDEN RESORT
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'95/'96			19,600	55,100	55,600	46,600	3,800
'96/'97			22,900	40,600	54,000	40,500	2,500
'97/'98				28,800	44,000	33,100
'98/'99			8,750	40,650	40,600	31,200	2,600
'99/'00			11,350	35,600	40,950	32,100	2,600
'00/'01			11,780	37,840	37,550	28,050
'01/'02			14,650	38,440	38,620	23,790	1,730
'02/'03			14,130	36,100	34,300	28,900	2,430

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'95/'96	180,700	November	---	---
'96/'97	160,500	December	96.5%	72.1%
'97/'98	105,900	January	93.9%	65.5%
'98/'99	123,800	February	88.8%	61.7%
'99/'00	122,600	March	121.5%	62.0%
'00/'01	117,160	April	140.5%	64.0%
'01/'02	117,230	May	--	---
'02/'03	115,860	SEASON	98.9%	64.1%

YUZAWA KOGEN
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

YUZAWA KOGEN
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'96/'97			14,000	65,400	59,000	52,000	4,700
'97/'98			18,000	58,000	55,000	46,800	2,300
'98/'99			11,000	44,100	52,250	44,000	2,000
'99/'00			9,310	43,000	51,000	39,000	2,600
'00/'01			8,620	25,000	35,730	25,280	2,060
'01/'02			9,330	30,510	34,170	23,600	1,920
'02/'03			11,750	28,360	32,520	23,050	1,550

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to last season	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Compared to 1996
'96/'97	195,100	December	125.9%	83.9%
'97/'98	180,100	January	93.0%	43.4%
'98/'99	153,350	February	95.2%	55.1%
'99/'00	144,910	March	97.7%	44.3%
'00/'01	96,690	April	80.7%	33.0%
'01/'02	97,610	May	--	--
'02/'03	97,230	SEASON	97.7%	49.8%

YUZAWA PARK
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

YUZAWA PARK
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'96/'97			12,400	47,400	58,000	48,100	3,500
'97/'98			2,300	33,000	51,100	37,500	600
'98/'99			5,200	39,600	42,900	32,000	2,300
'99/'00			10,300	35,200	42,300	30,200	2,100
'00/'01			9,600	33,000	38,100	27,500	1,900
'01/'02			12,100	31,500	35,000	22,000	850
'02/'03			8,900	28,300	29,500	23,800	550

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON 2001 compared to 2000	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON 2001 compared to 1996
'96/'97	169,400	December	73.6%	71.8%
'97/'98	124,500	January	89.8%	59.7%
'98/'99	122,000	February	84.3%	50.9%
'99/'00	120,100	March	108.2%	49.5%
'00/'01	110,100	April	64.7%	15.7%
'01/'02	101,450	May	---	---
'02/'03	91,050	SEASON	89.7%	53.7%

YUZAWA NAKAZATO
(resort page on Snow Japan here)

YUZAWA NAKAZATO
Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
'96/'97			30,000	125,000	170,500	114,000	2,000
'97/'98			800	65,000	140,000	86,000	0
'98/'99			6,500	111,000	142,000	103,500	2,000
'99/'00			23,000	99,000	142,500	98,000	2,500
'00/'01			21,500	93,000	125,000	79,000	2,500
'01/'02			24,000	90,000	119,000	63,500	1,000
'02/'03			21,500	85,000	100,000	60,000	---

Season	TOTAL NUMBER OF GUESTS	MONTHLY ANALYSIS	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON 2001 compared to 2000	YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON 2001 compared to 1996
'96/'97	441,500	December	89.6%	71.7%
'97/'98	291,800	January	94.4%	68.0%
'98/'99	365,000	February	84.0%	58.7%
'99/'00	365,000	March	94.5%	5.4%
'00/'01	321,000	April	---	52.6%
'01/'02	297,500	May	---	---
'02/'03	266,500	SEASON	89.6%	60.3%

Coming up in the next report:
Monthly statistics from the other main winter sports regions of Niigata Prefecture.
>>> Click here

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